


The Second Miracle

by hardboiledbaby



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Community: watsons_woes, M/M, Translation Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:59:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7554088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardboiledbaby/pseuds/hardboiledbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holmes would often play his violin for my benefit. The gentle melodies and the sense of being watched over would lull me into a deep and restful sleep.</p><p>A brief companion piece to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6929626">"The Tempest."</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Second Miracle

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Второе чудо](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15402636) by [Little_Unicorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Unicorn/pseuds/Little_Unicorn)



> Written for the Watsons_Woes 2016 July Writing Prompts Challenge, prompt #21 - [21 Song Salute](http://watsons-woes.livejournal.com/1590936.html). I chose #10 - "Someone to Watch Over Me."
> 
> I didn't see the prompt post until late in the day, but I love this song and wanted to write _something_. So here's my something, warts and all.

 

_There's a somebody I'm longing to see_  
_I hope that he turns out to be_  
_Someone who'll watch over me_

 

There were numerous times in the early days of our acquaintance when I was roused from a sound slumber to find Holmes standing at my bedside, eager to unravel some new and perplexing problem. 'Come along, my dear fellow,' he would say. 'Hurry, for we have a great day before us.' And I would hurry, without fail. I was no less eager than he, for to see firsthand that amazing intellect at work and to help some poor unfortunate soul in their time of trouble was well worth the loss of a few hours' sleep. In return, Holmes would often play his violin for my benefit. The gentle melodies and the sense of being watched over would lull me into a deep and restful sleep. 

Upon my marriage, I left the lodgings I shared with Holmes. Our friendship continued, but the early morning awakenings were a thing of the past. I found I missed them; missed the light in my friend's keen eyes as he urged me to rise and join him, and the warmth of his smile as we headed out together into the grey misty streets to pursue our quarry. Still, he included me in his work now and then, and I gradually grew accustomed to being woken for my medical cases rather than his investigative ones.

Then we went to Switzerland.

For a long time afterwards, sleep was a bane rather than a balm. My nights were a seemingly endless parade of uneasy, fitful dreams, filled with the faces of the dead: soldiers on the field of battle, patients who expired while in my care. My parents, my brother. John Openshaw. Even my beloved Mary, wearing an expression of reproach that she never had in life. And Holmes, of course—falling away from me even as I desperately reached for him, his eyes forever locked on mine. So many I could not save. 

Those nightmares did not cease when Holmes returned, not immediately. I found him at my bedside more than once, but now it was because I had awoken _him_. He took up his violin again, which helped, but there was still a weight upon me. Having him back, miraculous though that was, simply was not enough. 

Matters came to a head one stormy night, and to my great surprise, Holmes felt exactly as I did. _Had_ felt that way, in fact, for quite some time. If only I had known.... But there was no sense in harbouring regrets about the past. We could only go forward, and face the future together.

 

_It has been many years since our second miracle. We have long since retired, so Holmes no longer wakes me at ungodly hours for a case. However, he does still play his violin for my benefit. The gentle melodies soothe away my occasional nightmare, and he watches over me as I sleep._  



End file.
